Getting To Know You: Demob Happy

So we caught up with Demob Happy’s singer/bassist: Matt Marcantonio ahead of their upcoming Brighton gig at The Haunt this Friday. Here’s what he had to say about their latest EP, ‘Young and Numb’ and everything else Demob related:

What does the ideal behind ‘Young & Numb’ mean? Is there more to that ideology, asides from the stoner/dropout notion? Are you trying to present something different?

Yeah. There’s always a double meaning, otherwise I get bored, and word play gets me off. I’m private, but songs need words, so there’s an outer level and a level that belongs to me, plus there’s a lot I see that fuels my dissent.

How has your sound developed since your older tracks such as ‘Wash It Down’ and ‘Rattlesnake’?

It’s heavier and more refined. We figured out what we like, but also we figured out how to record the heaviness we heard in our heads. We learnt stuff.

How did the Nowhere Man Café come to be? Is it a project within the band, running at a tangent, or is it something separate? Is it a project that has a means of financing the band?

I was looking for a basement we could rehearse in and also rent out to bands the rest of the time, and the nicest place had this upstairs room which my brother figured would make a real nice coffee shop, so we decided to go halves on the whole thing. It doesn’t finance us but we rehearse and party there.

After hearing about your intimate parties, excessive damage and ‘Demobile’ shows, would you say you are intrigued by experimenting with the live situations?

Maybe, it’s not because we’re bored of meat and potato shows or particularly want to change up that dynamic, we’re just attracted to doing things the hard way, which make-shift shows always are.

‘Succubus’ and ‘Young & Numb’ both suggest a horror theme within the videos, is there a reason behind this?

Not intentionally. Our other videos weren’t spooky, we’re just becoming sick in the head.

What’s next for Demob Happy?

It’s the start of the festivals now. We’ve wanted to do festivals for years but it’s always been ‘next year’ but now we have the means to do them.

How has touring influenced your sound? How has Brighton influenced your sound?

Touring just makes you tight. There isn’t a lot of room for improving of the songs while your touring because your just in and out of venues and sleeping in the van, so we’re not rehearsing or writing. We just care about being tight.

You have heritage in Newcastle – does this hold any roots in your sound as group?

I hope so. We’re always keen to go back and get local supports to bring attention to the stuff up there. There isn’t enough focus on music in the north, so we had to leave, but it shouldn’t be that way.

What can we expect from The Haunt gig?

It’s the last show of the tour and the end of a long 3 month slog for us so I think it’s gonna be an exorcism of sorts. We’re all fucking knackered so we’ll just blow whatever’s left up the wall.